CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1202)Operational ProceduresMedium
A company retains daily backups for two weeks, weekly backups for two months, and monthly backups for one year, cycling older media back into use once retention expires. Which of the following backup rotation schemes is being described?
- ASynthetic full backup
- BGrandfather-father-son
- CFull backup only
- DMirror backup
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Grandfather-father-son
Grandfather-father-son (GFS) is a tiered rotation scheme using daily (son), weekly (father), and monthly (grandfather) backup sets with staggered retention periods, exactly matching the scenario described. The other options describe single-method backup approaches, not tiered rotation schemes.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Synthetic full combines incrementals into a full backup, unrelated to tiered retention.
- C. Full backup only describes a method, not a rotation scheme with tiers.
- D. Mirror backup is a real-time copy method, not a rotation scheme.
Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS)
A backup rotation scheme using daily, weekly, and monthly backup sets with tiered retention periods for efficient long-term storage management.
- Son = daily, Father = weekly, Grandfather = monthly
- Balances storage cost with historical recovery needs
- Common in enterprise backup strategies
Memory trick: Grandfather, Father, Son: three generations of backups.